Minako Arashi: Journeys of a Desperate Trainer
by Salaris
Summary: Mina is just your average newbie trainer going on her first journey...other than the fact that she's thirteen and doesn't have a clue about anything. Comedy/romance at times. A few plot twists for the easily bored. Canon characters will appear at times.
1. Chapter 1: Late Bloomer

Thirteenth birthdays were always supposed to be exciting, but Minako Arashi wasn't at all excited about hers. The whole of Pallet Town was making a huge deal over nothing. _Stupid Ash_, she thought to herself as Mina trudged out of her bedroom and into the kitchen for some milk. Ever since the little brat had become oh-so-famous, people expected everyone in Pallet to become stars. _They're so stupid._

Mina filled her favorite green mug with the low-fat milk and shut the fridge door with her foot. She slid along the wooden floorboards effortlessly until—_Creeeeaaaak. _

"Minako! Trying to sneak past me like that! I have to talk to you, honey." Mrs. Arashi said cheerily, patting the ottoman beside her. Mina sighed, and sank into the cushy box. "Sooo," her mother said, leaning in near her youngest child, "are you excited for your thirteenth birthday?"

"No."

Mother's eyebrows bent.

"Y'know, I was thinking…maybe I should wait one more year until I go on my journey. Just so that I…get to research everything a bit more, y'know?"

Mrs. Arashi sighed. "You do realize that your brother went on his first journey when he was eight, don't you? Look, honey, I know you don't want to do this, but everyone does someday. And you will tomorrow."

"But Mom—"

"Sweetie, this is going to be a great experience for you, whether you start out wanting it to be or not. But it all starts with a positive attitude. So smile, 'kay?"

Mina rolled her eyes.

"Here, I've got the perfect thing." Mrs. Arashi reached down to her salmon-colored purse. She pulled out a worn-looking black-and-yellow Poke Ball.

"Oh yay, lucky me. I get a used Ultra Ball. Can I just go to bed, Mom?"

"Not until you open this."  
Mina sighed and turned around. She took the ball out of her mom's hands and gingerly tapped the white button on the front of the ball, wincing as blue sparks shot out from the Ultra Ball. What she saw, however, put the opposite reaction on her face. "Mom, is this...is this the Magby?" She was almost crying.  
Mrs. Arashi nodded, smiling at her daughter and blinking back tears. "Yes, honey...it is." The Pokemon that had come out of the ball was none other than what used to be a baby Magby Mina had found as a child at an old abandoned Team Rocket base. She had begged her mother to keep the Pokemon, but Mom had insisted they give the Magby to their local Pokemon Center. And now...now she was here!  
"Mom, why on earth did you never tell me you held on to her?"  
"I was going to give her to you when you started your first journey. I _assumed _you'd be starting when you were eight or nine, like your brother and sister did."  
"Well if you had told me you were going to give me the Magby I'd found as a child, I just might have been inspired to journey earlier!" But Minako's anger was overcome with her happiness. She still remembered what she had named the cute-but-dangerous fire Pokemon. "A.J., let me show you my room, and you can help me pick out clothes for the journey tomorrow." A.J. latched her paw onto Mina's sleeve, and she laughed and pulled the Magby along to her purple-and-green themed bedroom.  
"You're welcome!"  
"I'm still mad at you, Mom!" But Mrs. Arashi knew as well as Minako did. Thanks to A.J., Mina was starting to get excited about her journey. And hey, maybe she'd even meet that Ash kid along the way.


	2. Chapter 2: The Awkward Send Off

"Mina? Mina, wake up!" Minako's eyes fluttered open, and she tilted her head just enough to see her mother peaking through the door.

"What, Mom? I need my sleep."

Mrs. Arashi opened the door and crouched down next to her daughter's head. "Honey, don't you remember what day it is?"

"What are you talking a—" All of a sudden, a Magby fell on her head, and the memories came flooding in. "Oh, crap! What time is it?"

Mina's mom looked down at her watch. "Nine thirty-two. Why do you ask?"

"Because the send-off is at ten! I'm gonna be late!" Mina ushered her mother out of the room, and then pulled open all her dresser drawers at once. She put on a random top and bottom, laced up her sneakers, and quickly ran a comb through her hair. "Looks great, hon," she said sarcastically into the mirror, and pulled out two Poke Balls from her back pocket. She held them up and pressed the buttons, Mika and A.J. getting sucked into their temporary carrying-cases, and then shoved them back into her pockets, running out into the kitchen and grabbing a bagel from the toaster oven. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!"One of her shoes wouldn't go past her heel. She stomped her foot onto the floor and her foot slipped tightly into the shoe. _Thank you Arceus,_ she thought in relief to the God Pokemon, and scanned her eyes across the wall until it stopped at a circle. The round oval kitchen clock ticked nine forty-seven, and after a quick hug-goodbye from her mom, she was on her bike and pedaling fast as her worn old bicycle would go, dodging the odd brave Rattata attempting to cross the street, as she swerved through the inner-city labyrinth of Pallet Town. She arrived breathless, but on time, at Professor Oak's lab.

"…embark on a great journey, and I wish you all good luck! Now, form a line on your left to receive a starter Pokemon, and to your right is a desk where you can pick up your Pokedex. Thank you!" Well, the left side was out; after you turned thirteen you weren't allowed to use a starter on your journey. They thought it would be an "unfair advantage", but that's just because they figured old fogies like Mina had been leveling up the Pokemon they owned since they were ten. _Pokedex it is. _Minako was given a classic red Pokedex, and a mandatory cell phone programmed with the lab's phone number. Other numbers had to be added manually. Mina thanked the helper giving them out and shuffled to the back of the room. Although she knew that once one got their Pokedex, they officially started their journey, she wasn't quite sure she was ready yet. Ready to leave home, that is. She could handle the outdoors, she could handle the people, she could handle the Pokemon, she could handle the travel…but she couldn't handle being without her home. Her bed, most of her books, her favorite foods…_But I've got to do this,_ she reminded herself, and turned around to see who all was becoming a trainer today.

Nanami cocked her head sideways. "Really? They're _all _ten? Come on, there must be at least one teenager here…" And that's when she saw her. She had platinum-blond hair with strands of dark chocolate brown down to her shoulder blades, and charcoal gray eyes. A small smirk was planted on her nude lips, and her outfit was simple, a black t-shirt and dark denim shorts. But what mattered most of all was that she was a teenager. It was easy to tell. The way her back slumped, the kind of attitude she omitted, it all added up to one thing: the Teenager. Nanami whispered into her Poketch, "Yep, she's the one…Oh, shut up Georgio! I'm sure Kana does _not _look fat in that dress!" She grunted. "And I'm sure it would _not_ look better on me!" Then she snapped the Poketch cover shut, and sashayed happily over to the girl. "Hi, I'm Nanami Anamori. I was just wondering, may I have the pleasure…?" The girl took her out-stretched hand.

"The name's Minako Arashi; everyone calls me Mina. And may you have the pleasure of what now?" Mina asked gingerly, confused.

"Of journeying with you, of course!"

"Wha…what?"

Nanami sighed. "Let me put it simply for you: Me want travel with you. Got it?" Then she stuck out her tongue, assuring Mina it was a joke, and laughed. "I guess I should go back a bit and explain. I'm a coordinator. See, I'm a Sinnoh native, and I started my journey when I was ten, from Floaroma town. I competed in all kinds of contests and whooped them all, so I traveled down to Hoenn to compete in contests, and yet again, got all my ribbons within a few months. Well, now I'm looking for something more challenging, and Kanto contests are just the thing! All in all, I'm basically a bored master coordinator who wants to travel in Kanto, but doesn't want to do so with a ten-year-old." She nodded her head at the mass of little kids playing with their new Pokemon and poking them with their grubby little hands.

"I see what you mean." Mina bit her lip, but in the end, figured having a traveling companion could come in handy. She wouldn't have to cook her own meals all the time, and having an experienced trainer on hand would definitely be an advantage when it came to competitive battling. Er, contesting, or whatever it was this Nanami girl knew most about. Mina took a deep breath. "Okay. You can come. But we're going my way, on the routes I need to use, to the places I need to go to. Got it? Oh, and can I call you Nana? Nanami's gonna get a little long after awhile."

A big smile burst out on Nanami's face. "Of course! Oh, thank you so much!" She drew Minako into a hug, then pulled away and pointed heroically to the EXIT sign. "Now," she said, using a husky voice, "let us go out into the world of Pokemon!"

Mina laughed, and walked through the nudged open door, knowing she wouldn't be looking back for quite some time.


	3. Chapter 3: Going with the PokeGang

"Remind me again how we got stuck in this situation?" Minako whispered to her new companion, Nanami.

"I don't know. They just…ganged up on us, I guess? But don't worry. I'm sure we can get out of this peacefully if we just talk it out—"

"Shut up already!" called one of the boys surrounding them. The two girls had been chatting, casually walking through Route 1, when all of a sudden these madmen had jumped out of the trees, circling them, and shouting at them 'give me all your money!'

"Look," Nana said calmly, "we barely have any money at all in the first place. Mina here just started her journey, and I haven't won a contest in years."

"I thought you said—"

"Mina, just go with it," Nanami whispered to her, and continued, "and we don't want to have to battle you, but if we must, we will."

That's when the blue sparks started going off.

Everyone surrounding them was bringing out their Pokemon, Crobats and Glooms and Haunters all going wild.

_Ugh_, Mina thought to herself, _why would Nana even suggest this? She knows my Pokemon are low leveled—Mika's barely considered a level ten—and her Contest Pokemon can't be much stronger either._

Now that's where Minako was wrong.

Nana took a deep breath, and one by one pressed the buttons on the Poke Balls clipped to her belt. "Cream, Jun, Yumi, Cinnamon, Nina, Ryu; go!"

While a Togekiss soared through the air, swooping down towards a Gloom, a Manetric and Flareon took care of some Crobats. On the other side, a Garchomp, Corsola, and Weavile were literally kicking Pokemon butt at an extremely fast pace. All the while, Nanami shouted out commands, her voice sharp and directions clear, but the Pokemon already seemed to know what to do. Everyone was in sync…except for Minako, that is. She was just kind of standing there, feeling awkward and out of place as Nana moved around the circle. Within a few minutes, the so-called "gang", if one could even call the pathetic little thing that, was defeated, and Nana stood in her "victory" pose: one hand on her hip and the other forming a peace sign. She pushed the buttons on four of the Poke Balls, and waited patiently as blue light whooshed back into the balls. "I _told_ you guys I wanted to end this peacefully."

The gang members grumbled and threw the required amount of Poke Dollars for losing a battle onto the ground, and started walking back into the forest, slumping with defeat as they retreated into the shadows. Minako had suddenly just grown an undying respect for coordinators. Except…

"…Alex? Is that you?" A boy, about thirteen, turned around, a "crap, I'm caught!" expression on his face. Mina sighed. "Alex! Your parents have been looking for you for three weeks! Are you telling me you joined a _gang_? I thought better of you…"

The black-hooded boy stepped forward sheepishly, his face burning as he faced his long-time friend. "Hi…?"

"Ugh! You little—!" And then she hugged him.

"Whaa?" He said, cheeks flaring red as Mina's arms wrapped around him.

"Dude! You had everyone so scared! Everybody thought you were dead! Ugh, it's such a relief to know you're still here!"

"So you're not…mad?"

Minako rolled her eyes, pulling herself away from the boy. "Well, personally I couldn't care less, but I mean, your parents will probably kill you."

"Aw, crap," Alex said, slumping down against a sturdy oak. "You're right. My dad's gonna kill me…"

"Sorry, dude," was the best Mina could respond. She really wasn't good at comforting people.

Suddenly, Nanami spoke. Minako spun around.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Isn't _what_ obvious? You really have to be more clear with your sentences, Nana!" It was obvious both Mina and Alex were eager for what she had to say.

"I guess I just assumed the obvious solution would be to have Alex join us on your journey, then call his parents from the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. We should be there by this evening. That way they'll have time to cool off before he comes back, but they'll still know their 'favorite little boy' is safe and sound."

No one spoke for a moment.

"Nana, you're a freaking genius!"

"Oh, it's nothin'," the brunette said, twisting a lock of her long chestnut brown hair. "So, is this plan cool with everone?"

Alex and Minako looked at each other. Tentatively, Alex asked, "Ah…would it be awkward or you, Mina? I mean, traveling with a childhood friend and all…"

"Not at all," Mina said assuredly, pulling Alex off the ground and giving him a hard slap on the back.

"Oww! What was that for, man?"

Mina smirked. "Just wanna make it clear that perverts _will_ be sent home to evil fathers at the first sign of peeping-Tomness."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said, laughing. "Whatever. A couple a slaps on the back is still better than a ten-hour lecture by Dad."

But if Alex had realized just what they'd find in Viridian that evening, he would have turned around right then and there and accepted his father's lecture.


End file.
